CARE provides lifesaving mobile healthcare to vulnerable Afghans

In many areas, the only option

In a mountainous village of 4,000 houses in Kabul province, CARE is the only organization providing health services – including medicines, maternal health and nutrition services – to residents, in particular to women and girls, through its weekly mobile health clinics. Unemployment, poverty, lack of schools, and mental health issues are the main challenges in the area.

“Each time I come here, I see between 100 and 150 patients in a day,” said Dr. Shamsur Rahman, a CARE physician. “Flu, cough, and other winter-related diseases, like lung problems, and diarrhea, are the most common problems in this village. Women and children are the most vulnerable and are in dire need. There are no physical health centers here.

“CARE is the only organization that provides health services for this community. We also provide free medicine, whereas in public health centers, medication must be paid for, and often, people simply cannot afford it.”

Over the past six months CARE Afghanistan has supported 61,592 people – 65 percent of them women and girls – with health services in Ghazni, Herat, Balkh, Kabul, and Khost provinces. The services include primary health care, maternal health, nutrition support, referrals to specialized facilities for gender-based violence cases, COVID education, and psychosocial support services. In addition, CARE has distributed emergency medicines, medical supplies, and equipment to health facilities.

Since the August 2021 change in government, medicine and equipment shortages, plus unpaid salaries for health workers, have put enormous additional strain on an already weak health system. An estimated six million people have no access, or insufficient access, to healthcare in Afghanistan, and women and children pay the heaviest price. CARE is urging the international community to step up their commitment to enable Afghanistan’s most vulnerable people to access critical health services.

* All names changed.